Leaf collecting and hauling tarpaulin

ABSTRACT

A lawn tarpaulin of strong, flexible material for collecting and hauling leaves and lawn debris is described consisting of a rectangular tarpaulin with two or more weighted and partially stiffened edges. Both the weight and stiffening are provided by a plurality of strips of stiff dense material, such as metal strips, fastened to the tarp edges alternating with short gaps of flexible tarpaulin edge between them. This allows the tarpaulin to be folded for convenient storage. The weighted edges keep the tarpaulin from bowing in the wind and stable when raking debris onto the tarpaulin. A handle attached to one corner of the tarpaulin connects the opposite corner and to at least one central point on a front edge for hauling. The partially stiffened edges cause the tarpaulin to assume a shape while hauling that encloses the load and prevents spillage.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to material handling devices. More particularly,this invention relates to devices able to move large amounts of light,voluminous material such as lawn debris.

BACKGROUND

For as long as man has had lawns, the raking of leaves and removingdebris has been an annual chore, particularly in the fall. Moving eavesand debris to the street curb for municipal pickup or to a disposal sitecan be a problem because the low density of the leaf litter inparticular requires moving a very large volume of material. Wheelbarrowsand carts are inefficient for this task because their limited volumecarried requires many trips. A common solution is to use a medium sizetarpaulin for the hauling lawn debris. Leaves are raked onto thetarpaulin, one end of the tarpaulin is partially gathered in one handand lifted off the ground, then tarpaulin and contained leaves aredragged to the disposal site to be emptied. There are three problemswith this solution: the tarpaulin must be constantly straightened to lieflat when there is any wind at all, when raking the leaves onto thetarpaulin some of them invariably go under the tarpaulin instead of ontop, and when full the gathered tarpaulin is hard to hang on to whilehauling it. Specialized tarpaulins designed to deal with these problemshave fallen into two broad categories: dragging tarpaulins and carryingtarpaulins. The dragging tarpaulins in general are larger and transportmuch more material with each trip, but since most municipalities requirethe bagging of lawn debris, specialized designs have been conceived tofacilitate this process at the expense of transporting efficiency. Thusthe dragging tarpaulin, to which class the present invention belongs, isbest suited to situations where the leaves are to be hauled to adisposal site where nature takes its course returning the elements tothe soil. This invention describes a cheap, practical dragging type oflawn tarpaulin that minimizes the problems listed above. It should benoted that although the tarpaulin is characterized as a lawn tarpaulin,it would be useful for moving any light, voluminous material.

PRIOR ART

The problem of keeping a tarpaulin flat on the ground in the presence ofwind has been treated by using stakes attaching the tarpaulin to theground (e.g. U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,125,060 and 5,564,232), using one or moreweighted edges (e.g. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,565,101 and 5,660,402) or using anet or mesh rather than a solid film tarpaulin (e.g. U.S. Pat. Nos.7,594,754 and 6,267,504). Weighted edges also helps keep leaves frombeing raked under the tarpaulin However, each of these solutionsintroduces further inconveniences. Stakes used to flatten a tarpaulinmake moving it much less convenient. Weighted edges along one or twoedges of a tarpaulin either have to be removed to fold it, or if notremoved, rolling the tarpaulin on an edge makes a very long package forstorage. The mesh type of leaf hauler has the disadvantage of collectingdebris entwined in the mesh causing problems when emptying and storingthe net. Also a number of specialized handles have been described to aidin lifting or dragging a tarpaulin (e.g. U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,125,060 and5,943,831).

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention describes a lawn tarpaulin made of strong,flexible material with two or more stiffened and weighted edges toprevent the tarpaulin from folding in wind and to keep leaves from goingunder the tarpaulin when raking leaves onto it. However, the stiffeningand weighting elements are not continuous down an edge, but interruptedat periodic intervals to allow a short flexible section betweenstiffening elements. This allows the tarpaulin edges to better conformto the contour of the ground, and it also allows the tarpaulin to befolded into a small bundle for storage. Storage size is importantbecause lawn tarpaulins are used infrequently, but must be convenientlyavailable when needed. This tarpaulin requires no assembly and is readyfor use simply by spreading it on the ground. The tarpaulin has a handleto facilitate hauling that is tethered to one corner of the tarpaulin.This handle has two or more connective means that can be connected toand released from the same number of connective means on one edge of thetarpaulin. Thus there are no separate parts to get lost or misplaced.When the handle is connected to opposite ends of the tarpaulin edge andone or more intermediate points, the tarpaulin with its partiallystiffened edges forms an enclosure most of the way down the tarpaulinallowing a large load to be hauled without spilling its contents.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the preferred embodiment of theinvention in use.

FIG. 2 is a top view of the preferred embodiment of the inventionshowing the overall placement of all elements of the lawn tarpaulin.

FIG. 3 is a detail showing the handle that is tethered to one corner ofthe lawn tarpaulin.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 shows the lawn tarpaulin 1 full of leaves being transported, andshowing the manner in which the partially stiffened edges enclose theload. The tarpaulin material may be made of any strong flexible materialpreferably having a smooth surface to facilitate dragging over theground and emptying the contents. The size of the tarpaulin has apractical limitation based on the weight Of the contents to be hauledand emptied. For hauling leaves and other lawn debris an 8′×10′tarpaulin is about right allowing an average person to handle it easily.

In FIG. 2 the overall placement of the parts of the preferred embodimentof lawn tarpaulin 1 is shown. The stiffening/weighting elements 2 areplace along two parallel edges of the tarpaulin, leaving a shortdistance between them to allow limited flexibility of the edges. Theymay be of any composition that provides the necessary strength andweight. For the prototype they consisted of strips of sheet metal foldedover the tarpaulin edge and riveted in place. This worked well andallowed a commercially available heavy duty tarpaulin to be easilymodified to produce the lawn tarpaulin. Alternatively, metalstiffener/weight elements 2 could be sewn or heat sealed inside edgeseams of the tarpaulin. Additional stiffener/weight elements can also beadded to either or both of the front and back edges of the tarpaulin aslong as they are spaced appropriately to allow folding of the tarpaulinalong the direction of those edges.

The lawn tarpaulin handle 4 is tethered to one corner of the tarpaulin 1(FIG. 3) by a rope loop 5 and handle eye 7 which connect to thetarpaulin 1 through a grommet 3. This handle 4 has two hooks 8 thatconnect to rope loops 6 on the tarpaulin in order to enclose the loadand haul it as shown in FIG. 1. The preferred embodiment of the lawntarpaulin has grommets spaced periodically along the perimeter of thetarpaulin, the grommets lying in the flexible interstices betweenstiffeners on the treated edges. Although the grommets 3 themselves canact as connective means with the handle hooks 8, the rope loops 6 areeasier to access with the handle hooks 8. The shape of the handle 4 andmeans of attachment of the handle 4 to the tarpaulin 1 and to thetarpaulin's connective means is not meant to be exclusive. Anyreleasable attachment means shall suffice. Also, the number ofattachment points of the handle and tarpaulin are not meant to belimiting. It is recognized that a handle with a single larger hook couldbe used to attach to more than one attachment loop, and a tarpaulin withmore than two releasable attachments, though perhaps less convenientwould still work.

When the handle is hooked to the two attachment loops, the front of thetarpaulin lifted off the ground and pulled forward, the limitedflexibility and weight of the edges of the tarpaulin cause the tarpaulinto assume the shape similar to that shown in FIG. 1, effectivelyenclosing the load so that there is little tendency for any of the loadto fall out during transportation.

At the disposal site the lawn tarpaulin 1 is easily dumped by releasingthe loops 6 from the handle hooks 8 and lifting one of the weightedsides of the tarpaulin.

1. An apparatus for conveniently receiving, hauling, and dumping leavesand lawn debris comprising: a substantially rectangular tarpaulin ofstrong flexible material and smooth surfaces having a front edge with afirst and second end and a rear edge; said front edge bearing aplurality of releasable connective means spaced equidistant from eachother starting from the first and ending equidistant from the secondend; an elongated handle flexibly attached at the second end of thefront edge, said handle bearing one or more connective means able tofirmly but releasably connect with said connective means on thetarpaulin front edge; a plurality of essentially equal length strips ofstiff dense material fastened along the tarpaulin edges running fromfront edge to the back edge, each strip separated from the adjacent oneby a short distance of flexible tarpaulin edge.
 2. The apparatus ofclaim 1 in which the tarpaulin has grommets spaced approximately evenlyaround its periphery, and the strips of stiff, dense material are sizedso that the grommets fall in the space between said strips.
 3. Theapparatus of claim 1 in which the stiff, dense material consists ofstrips of sheet metal folded over the tarpaulin edge and fastenedthrough the tarpaulin edge.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1 in which thetarpaulin has hemmed edges and the strips of stiff dense material aresewn or heat sealed inside said hem.
 5. (canceled)